Display sign



March 30, 1954 c. M. WILLIAMS ET AL DISPLAY SIGN 5 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Dec. 19, 1952 NWA March 309 1954 Filed Dec. 19, 1952 C. M. WILLIAMS ET AL DISPLAY SIGN 25 She'ets-Sheet 2 c. M. WILLIAMS :1' AL k2,673,976

March 30, 1954 .DISPLAY SIGN 3 Sheets-Sheet I5 Filed D90. 19, 1952 .Jim

Patented Mar. 30, 1954 DISPLAY SIGN Charles M. Williams and Luke G. Williams, Spokane, Wash., assignors to American Sign & Indicator Corporation, Spokane, Wash.

Application December 19, 1-952, Serial No. 326,842

4 Claims. l

`The present invention relates to display signs .and is particularly directed to a display sign wherein the correct .time and temperature are alternately given at frequent intervals. It is the ,principal purpose of the invention to provide a display sign of this .character utilizing the same banks of display `lamps for both forms ,of information, in which two circuit controlling devices are utilized for connecting and disconnecting current supply to the lamps, one control device being time operated to energize at frequent intervals, appropriate lamps in the lamp bank to spell out the time display, the other control device being tem.- perature operated to energize Yat frequent intervals appropriate lamps in the bank, including lamps that are energized by the viirst control de vice, to spell out the temperature display, the con trol .devices each comprising spring closed contacts for the lamps used in spelling out the respective displays, a. continuously effective function controlled means to lift the individual contacts necessary to leave the desired combination i lamps in circuit, together with a selecting means operable alternately to lift all of .the spring closed contacts of the time controlled device and all of the spring contacts of the temperature controlled device, whereby to show the correct time and the correct temperature free of interference or inter.A `mediate flashing of the lamps.

The inventon is illustrated in combination with a display structure involving sufiicient lamps to show the four numerals necessary for spelling out the time and the three numerals necessary for spelling out the temperature. The detailed mechanisms by which the several numbers `are properly spelled out, are not illustrated since they are well known in the art and do not form any part of Vour invention. However, the particular mech-- anisms which cooperate to effect direct control by the time clock and by the temperature change respectively, are illustrated in combination with a single simplied unit for spelling out one of the numbers.

The detailed nature and objects of the invention will be explained more fully hereinafter in connection with the accompanying drawings i1- lustrating a preferred form of the invention. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and description are illustrative only and are not intended to limit the invention except insofar as it is limited by the claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side view of a display sign Vern-- bodying our invention;

Figure l2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the essential electrica-1 elements and connections necessary to carry out the invention;

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on the line #1 -4 of Figure 1,;

Figure 5 is a detailed view on an enlarged scale illustrating the spring contact lifting mechanism; and

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken on the 'line 6-S of Figure 5.

Referring new to the drawings, the invention is shown as embodied in a display sign that is housed in a easing Il! which comprises an upper display panel Il, a lower display panel I2 and tubular end sections I3 and I4. These panels .and sections provide a lamp bank enclosure I5 which is provided with grills I6 on opposite sides through which the lamp banks direct the light rays. The construction is such that the information is displayed in both directions as will be readily apparent in the showing of ,Figure 2 of the drawings. However since thelamp bank con.- sjtruction and the electrical connections are merely .duplicated for vboth sides of the sign, a `description of one side only will be givenin detail. Figures 2 and 4 of the drawings illustrate .the presence of lamp bank units I'I, i8, I9 and 20 along one side of the sign and corresponding units Il', i8 I9 and 2B along the other side. Small individual lamp units 2| and 2l are provided to indicate the break between the hour and minute banks kof the displays.

The several lamp banks are mounted on opposite sise walls 2c, and 24 of a housing 22 for the; electrical and mechanical equip-ment. The housing ,2,2 is mounted in the .enclosure I5 and the side walls 23 yand 24 are hinged so they can be swung upwardly and outwardly upon removal of vthe grills I5 to provide access to the equipment within the housing 22. rl`he grills I6 are p ro- .vided with channel frameworks 25 which set into the enclosure I5 at both sides and are secured in `any suitable fashion. Each lamp bank, such as the bank I1, is made up of a multiplicity of cylindrical shields 25 that are secured to the side walls 23 and 24, lamps 2.1,y and lamp sockets 28 that extend through the side walls 23 and 2.4 and provide for current connections tothe lamps 21.

Within the housingI 22 a framework 30 carries the' operating equipment, including contacts 31|, cams 32, bus bars 33, etc. for controlling the current supply to the lamps 21. The Vtemperature responsive means, the time clock, the motors, and certain other parts are not shown in Figures 4i. .5 and 6, but they are .illustrated diagrammatiically in `Figure 3 ywhere the essential electrical components and connections are shown in comurination.

One essential device in the system comprises the means .for lifting the 'lamp bank connecting contacts .3l from the corresponding .bus bar 33 Whenever the display is changed from time to tem# perature and Whenever a change in time or tem#- perature occurs in .the illuminated period of the vdisplay of that particular information. This asf/3,976

mechanism comprises lii't bars 34 and 35 of insulating material which are operated by rock shafts 36 and 31. The rock shafts 36 and 31 are controlled by electro-magnets 38 and 39 respectively. In actual construction, the length of a rock shaft 36 or 31 is often so great that in order to obtain accuracy and avoid twisting of the shaft, it is provided with an electro-'nagnet at each end, the two electro-magnets being connected in series so that both of them will be energized at once to turn the rock shaft and lift the bar 34 or 35.

It will be noted from Figure 2 of the drawings that the tubular section I4 of the casing i3 is provided with an insulating lining 4B and an inner tube 4|. The purpose of this construction is to provide an insulated passage i'or a temperature responsive device 42 which will be open to the atmosphere and substantially protected from the heat generated by the lamp banks and electrical apparatus within the casing it. The temperature responsive device 2 is protected from rain, snow, etc., by a hood 43 shown in Figure l.

Figure l shows gaseous conduction tube displays 44 and 5 on the panels li and i2. it is obvious that various other displays of an informative nature may be used in connection with the lamp bank display provided in the enclosure |5.

Referring now in particular to lTigures 3, 5 and 6 of the drawings, the detailed connections necessaiy for operation of the display sign to alternately display the correct time and temperature will be described. The temperature responsive device 42 is shown in Figure 3 as electrically connected to an amplifier 45 which in turn is ccnnected to a reversible motor 4i and to the main current supply leads 4S and 49. The amphi-ier amplifies the electrical responses from the temperature responsive device 42 so as to operate the motor 41 in one direction or another upon temperature change taking place. The motor 41 drives a series of cams 53 which control switches 5| in such a fashion that only one of the switches 5| will be closed at a time. of the cams 5S driven by the motor 41, for each lamp bank used in displaying the temperature, to cause it to display the proper numeral. For the purpose of illustrating the present invention,

however, we have shown only a part of the cams 50 and their corresponding switches 5 i. The temperature indication may go up or down, hence it is necessary to have a reversible motor 41 to record both the direction and the change in the temperature. A second motor 52 is used with the reversible motor 41 to control the transmission of a cha-nge in temperature to the lamp banks. This motor is directly under the control of the reversible motor 41. It operates the cams 32 that control the contacts 3| to the lamp banks for indicating temperature. The manner of controlling the motor 52 from the motor 41 consists in providing an additional set of cams 53 operably connected to the motor 52, and switches 54 associated with the cams 53. The arrangement is such that only one of the switches 54 will be opened by the cams 53 at any time. Only one of the switches 5| will be closed by the cams 5l) at any time. Each of the switches 54 is connected to one of the switches 5| so that in order to get current from the line 4S through switches 5| and 54, both switches 5| and 54 have to be closed. When this occurs, current will pass from the line 49 over a conductor 55 to a relay 5G. This will energize the relay and close its nor- There are enough mally open contacts 51 and 58. When the normally open contact 51 is closed, the motor 52 is connected across the lines 48 and 49 and will operate until it brings the corresponding cam 53 into the right position to open the contact 54 that is in series with the closed contact 5|. The motor 52 will then stop again and remain stopped until there is a change in the position of the cams 55, due to rotations of the motor 41 by a temperature change.

When the motor 52 operates, it also turns the cams 32 and if, for example, the temperature drops when it previously has been rising, the cams 32 would have to be rotated through several positions to bring up the next lower number in the lamp bank controlled thereby. This would cause the several intermediate numbers to flash on and on unless the circuit to the lamps were open. The lamps, however, must also serve the time indication at intervals between display of the temperature indication. In order to avoid flashing of the several lamps, the system provides a means for lifting all of the contacts 3l oi the temperature indicating connection to the lamp banks while the motor 52 is operating. This is accomplished by energizing the electromagne't 33 at the same time the motor 52 is energized. The normally open contact 58 of the relay 5E will, when closed, connect the line 49 through a rectiiier 59 to the coil 55 of the electromagnet 38. rihis will energize the electro-magnet 33 and cause it to attract the armature 38 so as to rock the bar 34 and lift all of the contacts 3| away from their cams 32 and away from the bus bar 33. As soon as the motor 52 breaks its circuit by moving its switch 54 that is in series with the closed switch 5| to open position, the relay 56 is cie-energized and the contact 58 return." to open position, breaking a point in the sup ly circuit o the electro-magnet 38 to allow the armature 38 to return to open position. The bar 34 drops so that the contacts 3| may again ride on their cams 32 and make the proper contacts with the bus bar 33.

A clock motor 6| is utilized to provide the time control by which spring contacts 62 are connected to and disconnected from a bus bar 63 which is also connected to the power line 48. The time clock 6| runs continuously in the same direction and is suitably connected to cams 64 lor opening and closing the contacts 52. The clock 5| is also connected to the cams 64 so that it will move them quickly at the end of each minute from one position indicating a certain numeral on the lamp banks to a second position indicating the next numeral in the passage of time. During the interval in which the time indication is changing, the bar 35 is lifted by its electro-magnet 39 to break engagement of all of the contacts 62 with their bus bar 53. The mechanism by which this action is accomplished comprises a cam 55, also driven by the clock 6|, and a switch 66 which is closed once each minute to energize a relay 61. The relay 51, when energized, connects the power line 49 through contacts 58 and a rectiner 69 to the coil 1U of the electro-magnet 39. The other side of the coil 1D is permanently connected to the power line 48. IThus, each time the clock 6| moves its cams 64 ahead to indicate a new time reading on the lamp banks, the electro-magnet 39 is energized to attract its armature 39 and lift the bar 35 so that during the travels of the cam 64 to the next position, the contacts 62 will not be in engagement with the bus bar 63. This is only a momentary action and as soon as the cam t opens the switch 63, the relay El is de-energized and the contact point S8 opens to thus open a point in the circuit of the electro-magnet 3Q.

Alternate displays of the time and temperature indications on the lamp banks is brought about by utilizing the electro-magnets 38 and 39 to prevent both the time indicating contacts 62 and the temperature indicating contacts 3| from being closed at the same time. This control is carried on in conjunction with the operations previously described by which the electro-magnets 38 and 39 operate to open the lamp bank connections during the change over from one time indication to another and from one temperature indication to another. A motor H drives two cams 'l2 and i3 which control switches 74 and 75. The switch 'I4 and the switch 'l5 are both closed temporarily twice during each rotation of the cams l2 and 13 as will be evident by an inspection of the position of the cams in Figure 3. When the switch 'I4 is closed, it energizes a relay 16 to close a normally open contact point 11 and supply current the electro-magnet 38. Likewise `when the switch 'l5 is closed, it energizes a relay 'I8 to close a contact point 'I9 and supply current to the coil 'l0 of the electro-magnet 33. Thus when both switches I4 and 15 are closed at the same time, the reading of both time and temperature will be broken since all oi the lamp banks 3i and 62 will be lifted. As soon as one of the switches 14 or 75 opens, the corresponding electro-magnet will be deenergized and allow its bar 34 or 3S to drop back so that the contacts lifted by the bar will again ride on their cams and display the correct time or temperature under the control of the clock 6I and the temperature responsive device 42.

It is necessary to make doubly sure that the bars 34 and 35 will drop into released position whenever the electro-magnets are de-energized. To accomplish this purpose, the mounting is such that the spring contacts 3l and 32 tend to return the bars 34 and 35 to the proper released position. In addition the residual magnetism of the electro-magnets 38 and 39 which would tend to hold the arms 33 and 33 attracted is overcome by utilizing condensers 88 and 8i in parallel with the coils 6@ and 10. Thus when the electro-magnet is energized, the condenser in parallel with it is charged and as soon as the supply circuit is broken, the condenser discharges through the electro-magnet coil to thereby offset the residual magnetism. This permits the armature of the electro-magnet to drop back freely.

It is believed that the nature and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the foregoing description. Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. A display sign comprising a bank of lamps. a source of current supply, two circuit controlling devices for connecting and disconnecting current supply to said lamps, one control device being time controlled to energize at intervals, appropriate lamps in the bank to display the time, the other control device being temperature controlled to energize at intervals, appropriate lamps in the bank, including lamps that are energized by the first named control device, to display the temperature, each of said control devices comprising spring closed contacts for the lamps used in spelling out its respective disto the coil 63 on play, continuously operable cams positioned to lift the individual contacts to leave the correct combination of contacts closed, and rocker bars beneath each group of spring closed contacts operable alternately to lift all of one group together, then all of the other group together.

2. A display sign comprising a bank of lamps, a source of current supply, two circuit controlling devices for connecting and disconnecting current supply to said lamps, one control device being time controlled to energize at intervals, appropriate lamps in the bank to display the time, the other control device being temperature controlled to energize at intervas, appropriate lamps in the bank, including lamps that are energized by the first named control device, to disp.ay the temperature, each of said control devices comprising spring closed contacts for the lamps used in spelling out its respective display, continuously operable cams position to lift the individual contacts to leave the correct combination of contacts closed, rocker bars beneath each group of spring contacts, means responsive to time change to lift the rocker bar beneath the time indication control contacts, means responsive to temperature change to lift the rocker bar beneath the temperature indication control contacts and a separate energizing means for said responsive means operable aternately to lift all of one group together, then all of the other group together.

3. A display sign comprising a bank of lamps, a source of current supply, two circuit controlling deviccs each operable to selectively energize groups oi lamps in said bank to display a changing function at intervals, each of said devices comprising groups of spring closed contacts for the lamps used in spelling out its respective dispay, continuously operable cams positioned to lift the individual contacts to leave closed the correct combination of contacts necessary to energize lampsto display the,l function, rocker bars beneath each group of spring closed contacts operable to lift the group together, an activator for each rocker bar, operabe in response to a change in the function requiring a changed conibination of closed contacts in the group to lift the rocker bar while the cams change the combination, and a third control device operable alternately to energize the activators in the rst two control devices.

4. A display sign comprising a casing having upper and lower display panels and upright sections joining the ends of said panels, and forming therewith an enclosure area, grills closing the sides of the enclosure area, a housing seated in said enclosure between the grills, banks of lamps on said housing operable to display information through the grills when illuminated, one or" said upright sections having a passage therein, heat insulated from the casing, a temperature change responsive device in said passage and means in said housing connected to said device for effecting changes in the lamp display in response to temperature changes.

CHARLES M. WILLIAMS. LUKE G. WILLIAMS.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,289,371 Blades Dec. 31, 1918 1,979,328 Kenerson Nov. 6, 1934 2,032,518 Wheelock Mar. 3, 1936 2,290,261 Welch July 21, 1942 

